Love me Tender
by RebelWhoIsInFactNotARebel
Summary: Aria Mancini is a successful novelist who has secrets. She hides rom the truth, and would like people to know as little about her as possible. Then she meets Marco, and her life begins to unravel.
1. Chapter 1

I never really gave a shit. And this whole Deuces/Viper bullshit was no exception. As soon as I'd moved in people were talking to me about it. Half of them told me to hang out with the Deuces, the other half the Vipers. In this instant, I really didn't care. I just wanted to get settled in my town house and find a bar.

I was still wearing my paint stained Dickies, an old torn black shirt covering my upper body. Yeah, I looked like shit, but I just wanted a beer or two, then I'd be leaving. My old sneakers tapped pleasantly against the pavement as I walked down the street, finally finding The Club, as the Vipers spokespeople called it. They seemed like my kind of people. I pulled the heavy door open and was immediately met with the scent of stale beer and cigarette smoke (and cigar smoke). That mixed with the different brands of men's' cologne and cheap perfume, giving it the perfect bar atmosphere. I smiled softly to myself as I pulled the door shut behind me, a few people eyeing me as I made my way to the bar, slapping down some bills for my first beer. "Haven't seen you around here before." I heard someone say from behind me, talking over top of the jukebox and chatter. I picked up my bottle and turned, finding a taller man standing there. He was Italian, obviously, the black hair giving it away, and the greased look made me grin. Maybe I should have dressed nicer.

"I'd sure hope so. Never been here before."

"Oh really?" He asked, sitting next to me. "This is interesting news. I'm Vinnie Fish." He stuck out his hand and I took it, shaking it lightly. He had great bone structure. He could probably be a model or something.

"Aria Mancini." I smiled softly as he pulled my hand up and pressed his lips to the back of it.

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Mancini." He joked making me let out a small laugh as he dropped it, watching me take a swig of my beer. "It's nice to see a lady drinking some beer for once. Instead of a ten dollar cocktail."

"Cocktails, not my thing."

"Well, I'd be honored to introduce you to everyone." Vinnie told me. I nodded then and we got up, laughing when he hooked his arm through mine and we set off towards the crowd of people around us. "So, there's always a lot of people there. The Velvets, also known as the common whores. We only use them if we're desperate. You probably won't be accepted into them though, you drank half of that beer and you're not stumbling around, so the guys will probably accept you." He gestured around wildly, obviously not very impressed with the bar scene until we got towards the back. "And back here, we have the greatest people you will ever meet." In front of me were three men. One was overweight, in a cast and everything, the other skinny, and obviously a crack head and then there was him. He was muscular, but not too muscular, Italian like all of the other men here, black hair that was greased back, tiny mole next to his lips, and Jesus Christ, those shoulders…they should have been illegal. "This is Philly, Jimmy Pockets, and Marco Vendetti. He runs the gang. Boys, this is Aria Mancini, she's new around here." Marco stood up and shooed Vinnie away, so he went to rest against Philly's chair.

"Well, you're a pretty thing, aren't you?"

"If you're into Italians." I scoffed, cocking a hip and crossing my arms over my chest as he paced circles around me. I didn't follow his gaze, only stared straight ahead, glaring at him when he came in front of me. He chuckled then, a lower, deep bark.

"Feisty, I like that. Your name fits you, Aria."

"What do you mean, her name fits her?" Jimmy asked. He was pretty stupid.

"It means lion in Italian you fucking dumbass." Marco snapped at him. I snickered, ducking my head down to hide it, but Marco grabbed my chin and made my look at him. "You in the city by yourself, sweetheart?" His blue eyes were intense, making me hesitate and the corner of his lips tug upwards, realizing exactly how much control he had over me.

"Yes."

"And why's that?"

"My brother is married. He's living in Spain with his wife. My Father has cancer, and my mother is in a home because she has sun – downers syndrome." I said softly to him, making his eyes narrow at me.

"No boyfriend? Husband? Fiancée?"

"I've never had time."

"And what do you do, exactly?"

"I write books."

"What kind of books?"

"Lots of kinds of books."

"And these books you write, they sell?"

"Sure." His eyes narrowed again as he nodded, turning to Vinnie.

"I like her." He told him, flashing his teeth when he gives a menacing grin. I glanced at the clock above the men and frowned slightly. When did I become ten?

"I should probably head home. It's getting late, I have a meeting in the morning. Thanks for the company, fellas." I remarked softly, finished my beer in one breath, licking the tang off my lips. "I'll be seein' ya."

"Now, hold on there, princess. What kinda men do you think we are, lettin' a pretty lady like yourself walk home alone at night? Especially in a place like Brooklyn?" Marco made tut noises of disapproval. "Lemme walk ya home. No funny business." He held his hand up when I quirked an eyebrow at him. "I'll keep my hands to myself. Scouts Honor." He paused. "Unless you don't want me too." He winked at me and I scoffed.

"I don't think you were ever a Scout." I told him as the two of us weaved through the people, throwing out my bottle and push the door open, stepping out into the chilly summer night. I shiver slightly, not expecting to be out when it got this cold, but recovered quickly.

"You cold?" Marco asked, looking down at me as I walked.

"A little." I shrugged. "Not a big deal."

"Bullshit, your teeth are chattering." He scoffed. "Here." He shrugged of his leather jacket and placed it over my shoulders, stopping me when I opened my mouth to protest. "Shut up and accept it, Princess. Not everyone gets to wear Marco Vendetti's jacket." I had to laugh at that, pulling his jacket closer around me. I could smell the cigarettes, the cologne…the aftershave. I bit back a sigh, glancing over at him as he reached into his pocket and produced a pack of cigarettes, sticking one in his mouth and lighting it up. "Ya don't smoke, do ya?" He asked through the cigarette, extending the package my way. I surprised him by reaching over, pulling one out of the carton and sticking it in my mouth, letting him light it up for me. "You're quite the lady."

"I try." I joked as we approached my place. "This is me." I nodded to the rather large house, at least thirteen steps in order to make it to my small porch. He quirked an eyebrow at it before looking back at me. "I know, it's huge, but my brother might be coming back here soon, and if my Dad ever gets out of the hospital…well…they're all going to stay here." He nodded to me, obviously understanding and I shrugged his jacket off, handing it back to him. "Thanks for walking me home. And the jacket…and…the cigarette." It had burned close to the filter now, so I dropped it on the ground, smashing it with my shoe before I looked back at him. "Night, Marco."

"Goodnight, Aria." I headed towards the steps but his voice stopped me. "Why don't you let me take you out? We could see a flick or somethin'." I turned towards him, leaning up against the railing of the steps before starting at him.

"Alright. When?"

"Are you free tomorrow night?"

"I can be."

"I'll pick you up at seven, then." And with that he turned, his jacket over his arm, and starting strutting down the street of Brooklyn, his large shadow dancing beside him, all thanks to the street lamps. I smiled softly and skipped up the steps, unlocking my house and slipping in, locking it behind me for good measure and creeping upstairs in the dark, my puppies, Lilian and Teddy following after me.

The next morning I woke up to Teddy crawling off of my stomach, hurting me with his paws in the process. I grumbled a complaint, pushing him off of me before rolling on my side and shutting my eyes. And that was when my alarm started going off.

I shut it off, pushing my dogs out of my way as I went and jumped in the shower before dressing in a simple black dress. Slight V - neck, A - line skirt. It wasn't anything fancy, but it looked nice, so I went with it. I grabbed a pair of patent leather pumps while I was at it.

My meeting wasn't anything fancy. I was just having a casual meeting with my editor at a pizzeria, which was fine, I guess. I grabbed my clutch purse, checking myself in the mirror, before running out the door, pulling my long black hair into a ponytail as I walked there.

When I opened the door and saw Harris there, I smiled at him, ignoring the few whistles and mumbles that were heard. I gave him a hug and sat down. "I ordered a pizza for us. Mushroom and olives. Extra cheese." I grinned slightly at him. Harris wasn't just an editor, he was my best friend, and our relationship was more personal than business. He was there for me when we found out about the cancer, the sundowners, when my brother had left. When I was alone. "I got you a coke, too." He added as a waitress came and sat down our drinks, mumbling hurriedly before scurrying off. Whatever that was about. "So how's Brooklyn treating you?"

"I've only been here a day, Har." I scoffed, leaning back in my seat and narrowing my eyes at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Why? What'd you here?"

"A little something about a certain little Italian getting walked home from the bar by someone? I heard it was The Viper Club, so he must be a gangster, and pretty high up as well from the buzz that's going around."

"When'd you hear this?"

"When I came in." He told me, bringing his Coke to his lips, pausing to ask, "Who was it? You're meeting them again, aren't you?" before taking a sip.

"Marco Vendetti." Harris started choking then, looking around him as his face got red and his hacking became louder before he calmed down. "What the hell was the purpose of that, you twat?"

"He's here, Ari." It was my turn to start panicking, looking around me and spotting him in the back corner, glancing over at our table every so often. "I don't think he saw you at all, but um…just keep it calm. Don't choke. We'll eat and then we'll leave before he can start assuming anything or get the wrong idea." I nodded quickly as he cut a slice of pizza for me, setting it down in front of me.

As we finished eating, Harris glanced towards Marco's table. "Please be careful around, Marco, okay, Aria?" He'd used my full name, I knew he was serious. "I know how you can be when you feel threatened, or hurt, but Marco isn't one to get tied down with relationships, he's dangerous."

"I don't like relationships, either."

"No, you say you don't like them. It's a defense mechanism. You're lying to yourself so that people can't hurt you, but truthfully, you get hurt anyways." He told me honestly, wiping his mouth with the napkin. "Look, my little lion, I love you, and-…"

"Hey, princess."

* * *

**So, I didn't really edit it, just glanced over it.**

**I've never written a legit Marco story, so I decided it'd be a good time to start.**

**I don't know when the next chapter is going to be publish.**

**Probably not any sooner than next week.**

**I'm just going to publish another chapter when I feel like it...**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, princess." I heard from behind me, making both Harris and I jump. Harris looked up and I turned to find none other than the devil himself, he was glaring slightly at Harris, then he looked down at me. "Didn't know you were here."

"I didn't know you were either!" I lied, feigning surprise. If he didn't believe me he didn't show it, instead he just stared at me. "I would have come and said hi if I knew you were here. Oh, and Marco! This is my friend, Harris. Harris, this is Marco." Harris stood up, crossing over to Marco and shaking his hand, the two of them exchanging pleasantries. I stood up as well and looked at the clock. "Well, Marco. I have to get to my meeting, we're still going out tonight, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure thing, doll." I nodded, waving before grabbing Harris' arm and pulling him out of the pizzeria.

"Holy shit. He was about to kill me."

"And that's why we left." I laughed as we walked down the street towards my house. He left me by the stairs, kissing my cheek before heading off to wherever it was that Harris went when he was bored as I climbed the stairs, slipping into my house.

I continued packing until it was six. Then I showered and got dressed. I figured if we were going to the movies like he said it wouldn't matter what we were wearing, so I just wore high waisted jeans and a plaid shirt that I'd tied up. I threw my hair into a high ponytail, a little bump in the front to make it sassy, and then I put on my winged liner and mascara, finishing everything off with a soft pink lipstick. 'Cause I just felt pink today I guess.

At 6:57 I pulled on my saddle shoes and grabbed my tiny black clutch as I heard a car horn. I glanced at the clock. It was exactly seven. I sighed, rolling my eyes and ran down my stairs. I pulled the door open and ran down those stairs, panting slightly when I pulled the door open and slipped inside. "Where's the fire?" Marco jested lightly. I laughed at him, my hair blowing gently as Marco pressed the gas pedal, his newer convertible driving smoothly down the street.

"Two flights of stairs up." I told him and he laughed.

"So, how'd the meeting go?"

"Pretty good." I said flatly. "I'm sending the rough draft of my next book a few months later than what I would have wanted. Moving and life pushed me back a lot, so I didn't really have time to write. Or motivation, for that matter. It was pretty boring."

"Who's the guy in the pizzeria?" I sighed, knowing he was going to bring that up.

"That was Harris. He's my editor, and my life advisor. He's a really good friend of mine. There's nothing going on between us, he's just a friend that's been there through a lot with me." I said flatly. "Nothing to worry about."

We pulled up to the drive – in, the workers waving Marco through by default. As soon as we'd parked (We were early, really early), we got out and looked for people we know. "Fuckin' Deuces are here." Marco grumbled, making me look where he was glaring. I felt my eyes widen when they all looked towards me. Marco let out a growl, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me to his side in a rather possessive manner.

Those were the Deuces? What the fuck?

When they started walking towards us Marco pulled away from me, handing me some bills. "Go get us a coke to share. And popcorn. Or whatever. Okay, doll?" I nodded, kissing his cheek before hurrying off, thankful for the ticket out of there.

By the time I'd gotten back the Deuces were gone and Marco was sitting in the car, obviously annoyed by the cartoons they'd been playing. I laughed at him, sliding into the car and sitting the Coke in the cup holder. "You don't like the cartoons?"

"No, I don't fucking like the cartoons." I threw my head back and laughed as he looked over at me, the corner of his lips turning upwards in amusement. "You know what kinda movie this is, right?"

"Hopefully not one that's going to make me regret this."

"It's a horror movie."

"Oh." I bit my lip. "That's okay."

"Really?" I shrugged. "Damn it. My intention was to have you on my lap and shaking by the end of this." I quirked an eyebrow at him. "Most girls are afraid of horror movies."

"Yeah? Since when am I most girls?"

"You're not." I chuckled leaning back as the movie started to play.

Half way through to movie we'd scooted closer to each other. During a really intense part I grabbed his hand and held onto it tightly. I'd be stupid not to notice the smirk on his face when I did. Closer to the end I'd laid my head on his shoulder, making him squeeze my hand, almost as if saying 'I told you so'. I just smiled, rolling my eyes and getting back to the movie.

It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either. Marco hated it, he said it was stupid and he didn't understand how I thought it was scary. "It's not the fact that it was scary, it's the fact that it was realistic." The movie was a serial killer movie. "It's something that could easily happen. That's why I don't like it. I'm a single girl living in Brooklyn by myself in a big town house. I have a lot of money. People know who I am. It wouldn't be very hard to find me, obviously defenseless, and kill me." That seemed to make Marco think. If he agreed with me, or understood my reasoning, he didn't say anything. But he didn't argue with me, and he didn't bring it up again.

"Bye, Marco. Thanks for tonight. It was fun." I told him, sliding across the seat and reaching for the handle, Marco grabbed my arm before I could leave. I turned around to look at him, and that was when he pressed his lips to mine. He tasted like cigarettes and coke, an odd combination, but strangely addicting. His lips were soft, the kiss wasn't gentle, but it wasn't rough, it was very…Marco. When he pulled away he smirked at me.

"I'll call you." I could only nod as he let go of my arm. I slipped out of the car, shutting the door behind me. Marco waited by the curb until he was sure that I'd gotten into my house alright, then he drove off down the road.

I couldn't help myself, I did a spastic happy dance right then and there.

I stomped upstairs, pulling off clothes as I went and crawled right into bed in my underwear and bra, completely beat and ready to sleep. The novelist in me had other plans. I woke up around three in the morning, an idea fresh in my head, I pulled on my robe and crawled out of bed, making my way downstairs to my office, making a cup of coffee before I sat down in front of my type – writer.

Two weeks after my first date with Marco, Harris forced me to leave my house, letting me know how unhealthy it was to sit inside all day, even though he was relieved I was finally working on my book instead of stressing myself out over not having any inspiration. I winced at the sunlight, pulling some sunglasses over my eyes to shield myself before walking down the street to the Viper bar, Harris following after me.

I pulled the door open, heading to the bar and ordering two beers for Harris and I, slapping some bills on the counter to cover it before turning and leaning against the bar, sipping on the beer I'd bought and staring out into the crowd of people. I saw the crowd parting, and right there was Vinnie Fish. I grinned at him and he came closer to me, sitting down next to me. "Hey, baby!" Vinnie called, coming to kiss my cheek. "Haven't seen you in a while. Too good for us?"

"Nah, been busy. Got a book comin' out, remember?"

"That's right. Who's this?"

"This is Harris. He's my editor and my best friend. He forced me to come outside since I'm almost finished with the book."

"You've got Marco going crazy." Vinnie told me. "He thinks he scared you off or something."

"Quite the opposite. I've been wanting to get ahold of him and everything, but the book in my main priority at the moment. I'll be done with it soon, though. Let him know for me, will you?"

"I got it." I heard from behind Vinnie. Harris jumped, some of his beer spilling out of his bottle as I looked around Vinnie, smiling at Marco. "You just gonna sit there, princess? I thought you'd be happier to see me." I chuckled, sliding off that stool that was far too big and going over to him, giving him a huge hug. "That's better." He grunted, not letting me go when I pulled away, letting me settle against his sign again. "Harris, right?" Harris nodded uneasily.

"Marco Vendetti. Aria has told me a lot about you." Which was kinda true. I stepped towards Vinnie as Marco let go of me and went to shake Harris' hand.

"Likewise."

"Good things right? If not I'll probably have to lock her in a closet." Harris' face turned into one of horror, his gaze flickering from Marco to me. I had to laugh when he started stumbling over his words, trying to find an appropriate response.

"Harris, he was kidding." I assured my friend, shaking my head. Harris' shoulders slumped with relief and he took another swig of his beer.

"Why don't we get something a little stronger? Celebrate your book." Marco suggests, leaning over me to tap of the bar. Within seconds a serving tray with four shot glasses and a bottle of whiskey was place in front of us. Marco, Vinny, Harris and I each grabbed one as Marco held his us. "To Aria and her book."

"To Aria." The guys echoed, clinking glasses with Marco as I flushed and nodded to them, throwing the amber liquid back. I winced a little as it slid down my throat, burning all the way. It wasn't as if I was a lightweight that couldn't handle her alcohol, I just hadn't had much of any of it while I was locked in my house doing things for my book.

We kept throwing back drinks and next thing I knew we were all going back to my house.

Hey guys! I know it's been awhile but I've been dealing with personal stuff.

High school is kicking my as, but it's all good because I have straight A's as of late.

My boyfriend plays on the Junior High football team and he kinda broke his leg the week before

Homecoming so I've been kinda taking care of him and stuff.

But tomorrow morning (Monday morning) I'm going to be up at 4:30 so I can

talk to him before he goes into surgery cause the bone is offset.

Anyways, I'm a little worried, but I'm sure he'll be fine.

I didn't give up on my stories, I promise!

I've just been extremely busy.


End file.
